The interview for the math-and-stats peer advisor position went well. I think the second question they asked me was "What kind of music do you like?", which turned into a discussion about what kind of music was best. And that's pretty much how we spent the entire 50 minutes.
There were five of them—Linda, three peer advisors, and one former peer advisor. Maybe half of the questions were personal and the others were about what I can handle job-wise. (Like, "How would you handle a very angry student?". I said something like, "The best thing to do with an angry person is to treat them with kindness. Ignore the anger and proceed with courtesy.") They were very relaxed, very friendly, and they all love their jobs. They spoke highly of the reward of seeing a student succeed in math and stats classes, of seeing the happiness they feel in getting through a subject that is so stressful for so many people.
They ended by asking me about my wife and son, and they wanted to see some pictures. The peer advisor who is being replaced was especially interested in pictures of Rich because she is pregnant right now. It was a very fun interview, they are all very fun people, and I look forward to hearing about their decision on Monday.
We've been checking your blog since Thurs to hear about the interview...so glad it went well. I knew it would, but nice to know the details.
ReplyDeleteSo I'm curious about the music...what kind did you tell them you like?
When I didn't respond right away, they asked instead, "What kind of music do you not like?" I told them I didn't care for country, and then the office exploded as they explained their longstanding division on the subject of country music—half of them for it, half of them against it. When that settled down, I summed up my music preferences into the category of indie, though that's such an incomplete picture. But whatever. (For the record, my favorite is Arcade Fire, but I like anything from classical to Adele to techno to alternative.)
DeleteI like your answer to the angry student question. All three elements are important but I see "proceed with courtesy," focusing on the word "proceed," being the most important element. Also, by not ignoring the anger, it would be easy to get hung up in an unproductive discussion. To "proceed" would more likely result in a resolution to the problem.
ReplyDeleteJust my 2 cents.
-Den/Grandpa
Unfortunately, I think they heard the first sentence and then started talking about something else as I said the second sentence. Hard to explain how that happened, but I'm pretty sure they didn't catch my entire answer. Oh well.
Delete